Clinique iD Makes You Moist Personally

It may seem an unlikely paradigm that a 50-something chap would be cognisant of beauty and moisturiser products but “Here I am!”

Maybe its because the 50-year old Clinique brand invented by Evelyn Lauder (daughter of the eponymous Estee Lauder) has been around most of my life. Clinique premiered the world’s first allergy tested, dermatologist-driven line at the U.K. branch of a Saks Fifth Avenue store in 1968. Evelyn Lauder was also the first person to wear the trademark white lab coat, now worn by Clinique Consultants worldwide. As a medical research physician, you know that I’m always drawn to white coats!

By seriously, apart from my former research into pharmaceutical and cosmetic skin products, I seem to be purchasing more beauty products these days for the ladies in my life – my mother is 84 years old and I’m still with wife No.1 – its an “ongoing project”…

Clinique 3-Step Program (Clinique Photo)

Around the holidays gifting season, what man doesn’t know about the famous Clinique 1-2-3 system of skin care? It’s a seasonal tradition…

Customisation

Clinique clebrates its 50th anniversary by moving with the times and serving younger customers; the industry buzz word is “Customisation” to capture Gen-Z and millennial customers.

Clinique iD Personal Moisturiser (Clinique Photo)

Clinique iD, which launches online on 1st December 2018 and available in-store on Boxing Day, is a customised moisturiser collection that is based on specific customer requirements about texture and skin concerns. There are 15 possible moisturiser combinations, created from three different moisturiser bases (lotion, gel or jelly texture), and five “concentrations” that treat skin issues like irritation, fine lines or wrinkles.

Digital ‘Clinical Reality’

As you may expect for the millennials, there is an App to go with Clinique iD. Kept under wraps until its introduction in 2019 on Clinique.com and at beauty counters worldwide, the ‘Clinical Reality’ app will guide customer through the digital process; a one-to-one personalised service. Imagine the possibilities for more innovative technology tweaks to streamline the iD customisation process?

“We are trying to take every element from in-store and digital, influencers and education to bring it together,” said Janet Pardo, senior vice president of product development at Clinique. “Department stores are suffering now, but it is the experience that matters,” said Pardo. “The experience is important at the point of sale.”

One-Size-Fits-All No More

Following the trends in medicine, personalisation and customisation are two words that have emerged to supercede ‘one-size-fits-all’ beauty. Others have tried personalisation in makeup tailored to individual skin tone and a customer’s hair product formulated specially. We see the same trend in customisation of luxury wristwatches, jogging shoes and cars.

Influencers Prove Positive

Clinique will promote iD via 50 influencers to highlight the alleged benefits of each of the five concentrations with a global campaign called #FindMyiD. These U.S. influencers will travel to exotic locations like Bali, Morocco and Spain to talk about ‘their’ personalised concentrations.

Clinique Chubby Sticks (Clinique Photo)

Going Young for Beauty

As the junior brand, Clinique (1968) has always been popular with younger consumers compared with the parent brand Estée Lauder (1946). Embedded in the Estée Lauder Companies’ October 2018 earnings estimate , the Clinique brand has been “disproportionately affected” by the closure of retail partners in North America and Canada.

Fabrizio Freda, Estée Lauder Companies’ CEO, said, “Clinique has been the most impacted, not necessarily by the consumer not liking the brand, but really from the dislocation of the distribution reality around the world.”

Read that as: “We’re going online to make up the numbers lost to store closures.”

The Science of Moist

Starting with the signature ‘Dramatically Different Moisturizer’ lotions, the iD customised hydration system has been developed.

“Customization equals inclusion,” Julien Moignard, Clinique’s senior vice president of global marketing said. “In today’s digital world, women are looking online before purchasing anything, and they have access to much more information than in the past. That’s why when we launch a product, we do it with a 360-degree approach. The beauty of this system is that it speaks to every single woman.”

From 1st December 2018, you can choose which of the three Dramatically Different hydrating bases — Hydrating Jelly (my wife’s favourite) or Moisturizing Lotion or Oil-Control Gel — to mix with one of the five different active concentrate cartridges, each of which, is formulated to address a specific skin “concern”. Notice that they don’t call it a “problem”; nobody wants problem skin!

Clinique iD System (Clinique Photo)

Like something from Starfleet Medical, the concentrate cartridges are designed to fit inside the moisturisers and together they pump out a precise dose of 90% hydration base with 10% active concentrate.

Green:soothe irritated skinBlue: retexturize and refine poresWhite: help even out skin toneOrange:calm fatiguePurple: help smooth out fine lines and wrinkles

Everything is fragrance-free and allergy-tested with morality.

“We are all different, and one solution that fits all should not be the norm anymore,” says Moignard. “Technology and science are pushing us further. With iD, we empower women to create their own moisturizer based on the texture they like, their main skin-care concerns, and the ingredients that they trust.”

Price of Customised Beauty

At just $39 for each bottle (125 mL) meant to last three months if used as directed (twice a day). By combining two products and steps in your routine — correction and hydration — iD may be more economical than the usual Clinique 3-Step program.

AlphaLuxe Comment

During my medical research days, our premise was that patients were spending too much time and money to find products that actually work.

Clinique have their own data showing 68% of women in the U.S. believe they have yet to find the right facial moisturizer for their own skin. “We found that it can take them up to two years to find the perfect match, and up to five trials of different moisturizers, which is quite a lot,”Moignard explains. “And that’s why we felt that Clinique was the right brand to solve this problem at the right time.”

I wonder what to do about the ‘Wash’ step of Clinique’s usual 3-step routine?

This sounds like a good idea but as nothing is available yet, maybe we should get our Beauty editor to test Clinique iD soon?

Dr Melvyn Teillol-Foo is a contributor on AlphaLuxe web-zine.He was former CEO of PuristSPro.com horology discussion fora. He blends his scientific medical objectivity from the pharmaceutical industry with purist passion, in his musings about watches, travel, wine, food and other epicurean delights.His travelogue ‘Lazing’ and feasting ‘Grazing’ series of articles have now passed into “mythic legend” on the original ‘ThePuristS.com’ website. Those were the halcyon days when he was “rich and famous” that he remembers with bittersweet fondness.

Dr Teillol-Foo is a quoted enthusiast on the watch industry, appearing in feature articles and interviews by Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, Sunday Times (London), Chronos (Japan), Citizen Hedonist (France) and other publications. He has authored articles for magazines like International Watch (iW) – both U.S. & Chinese editions, ICON (Singapore), August Man (Singapore), Comfort (China) and The Watch (Hong Kong).